


SECRET SOLDIERS | band of brothers

by immrssebastianstan



Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: Alternate History, Americans, Angst, British, Death, Espionage, German, Multi, P I A N, Panic, Paratroopers, Resistance, SOE, Sadness, War, War casualties, World War Two, band of brothers oc's, friendships, from fluff to angst real quick, hbowar, if you don't like gay then go away, relationships, slowburn, so slow a slug will fall in love faster, this story is too gay for a period typical fic, women in war
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:35:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 15,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27335020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/immrssebastianstan/pseuds/immrssebastianstan
Summary: SECRET SOLDIERS" the life of spies is to know, not be known "- in which Maggie Walters and Claire Harding join the boys of Easy company as they prepare for the war in Europe.
Relationships: Chuck Grant/Original Female Character(s), George Luz/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 8





	1. ONE.

\- IN WHICH CLAIRE HARDING, GERMAN BORN AGENT, AND MAGGIE WALTERS, BRITISH BORN SOE AGENT, JOIN THE BOYS OF EASY COMPANY. 

• • •

Maggie Walters had always thought one thing - all Germans were Nazi's.

Training with the SOE until assigned to Easy Company, a US Airborne company, Maggie fought to be there. She fought to show she was strong, that women could do the same as men. She fought to make her mother and father proud, her siblings proud.

When she meets a German SOE Agent, Maggie realises one thing - not all Germans are Nazi's, and some want to help her win the war.

• • •

No matter on which side she stood, she was a traitor.

With her mother being German and her father being British, Claire Harding was torn between the two sides.

She was like so many others at the beginning. Celebrating the Nazis for helping her country but it all changed when the Blitzkrieg started. As if someone showed her the light she knew from one moment to the other that the Nazis have a darker plan than just making Germany big again.

She knew now on which side she wanted to stand.

• • •

𝚑𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚐𝚒𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜

𝚜𝚔𝚢𝚕𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚞𝚎𝚕𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐

𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚐𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚣 𝚊𝚜 𝚐𝚎𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚎 𝚕𝚞𝚣

𝚗𝚘𝚕𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚝

𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚗 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜

• • •

— THIS STORY IS BASED upon the HBO miniseries, Band of Brothers, and means no disrespect to the real veterans.

— THIS STORY IS ABOUT World War Two and will be as accurate as possible whilst still making it entertaining as possible. As such, it will contain period typical bigotry, swearing and mature themes.

— SOME CHAPTERS MAY CONTAIN trigger warnings, so please be aware when reading. If any, they will be shown visibly at the top of the chapter.

— THIS BOOK IS A collab with rinadoesrandomstuff - check out her tumblr (rinadoesstuff)


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER ONE

maggie, USA

Standing outside of Colonel Sink's office, Maggie found that she was more nervous than she had anticipated. She was glad Camilla had been sent along with her, opting to speak with the Colonel before Maggie did, but she could still feel as the butterflies filled her stomach. On the short walk from the start of base to the man's office, Maggie had already witnessed what an army did to men surrounded by other men. 

So far Maggie had been cat called, she had been called 'doll' and she had even been called a 'whore just looking for a husband.' Luckily for Maggie, Camilla had been there to stop the hot headed woman from getting tossed before she had even begun her time with Easy Company. The brunette didn't get another chance to think over the journey she had taken as the door opened, Camilla poking her head through the door til her eyes landed on Maggie. 

With a jerk of her head, Maggie made her way inside the office. It was an older looking office, hand-crafted antique furniture dotted around the room until it came to the chair the Colonel was sat upon. That was rather new, cushioned on the back and the seat. 

Face stoic, Maggie stood beside Camilla and saluted the Colonel in front of her. A smile on his face, Sink saluted back and offered Maggie the chance to stand at ease. Glancing down at the papers scattered on the desk, Colonel Sink began to speak in a deep southern accent. 

"Agent Walter's, it's a pleasure to meet you. I've been reading through the file the SOE gave me, and well-" The man paused and looked up at Maggie "You have a very impressive record. It seems you have already been on a battlefield and fought against our enemies. This is one of the reasons we chose you as our British Liaison, or rather British Intelligence officer."

Maggie gave a smile, nodding her thanks to the man for his praise. Camilla stood stoic, knowing what the man was ready to ask. "Reading through I noticed you have one disciplinary noted down against you - care to explain?" The Colonel looked toward Maggie, hands resting on the desk as he waited for the answer.

Whilst Maggie knew exactly what the man was speaking about, it took a moment for the words to leave her mouth. "A mission we had been sent on went wrong, sir. Whilst I was ordered to leave Agent Flemming behind enemy lines, I did not listen to such orders. Every other man and woman in our unit had been killed, I had gotten them killed sir. I wouldn't leave another man behind to die because of me."

Maggie willed the tears to stay where they were, she didn't want to seem weak in front of the Colonel. Maggie watched as the man studied her face, rubbing the moustache on his face before standing and nodding. "Thank you, Lieutenant." Whilst shocked at such a title, Maggie didn't show the emotion on her face in fear of it being just another test of who she was. "Agent Haroldson has been briefed on living situations and will give you your bars. You're dismissed." 

The two women saluted Sink as they turned to leave, Colonel Sink speaking before they stepped out of the door. "Oh and Lieutenant," Maggie turned to face the man "Welcome to the US Airborne." This time Maggie didn't bother hiding the smile that she wore, instead she let it shine bright as she followed Camilla out of the Colonel's office. The time had come for Maggie to finally show off what she was really made of.

claire, GERMANY

A soft autumn breeze blew through the busy streets of the German city. It was a city embossed by the colourful baroque and rococo ages. The history the city had to offer fascinated Claire from an early age on and even today she was impressed by the Jewel Box of Germans. 

The young woman stood in front of the Semperoper. Just the height of the Saxon State Opera impressed her deeply. Her gaze wandered up into the inside of the open spaced roof above the large entrance doors. Women and angels made out of colourful mosaics are looking down at passengers from their place. She always dreamed of once being able to dance in there. To look out into the crowd while she pursued her dream of being one of the most known ballet dancers.

Claire turned her gaze away from the opera and instead looked at the Zwinger, only a minute of foot walk away from her. She pushed her right hand deeper in the pockets of the dark brown coat she wore and started to play with a loose thread. Her left hand holding a brown suitcase as if her life depended on it. 

The suitcase that could be her life saver or her downfall. With quick steps, Claire started to make her way over to the large baroque building. The blonde strands of hair that weren't kept in place by the brown beret on top of her head moved with each step she took.

As soon as she stepped through the large gates her eyes landed on the face of an oh so familiar face she missed more than anything else in the last few years. He definitely changed but she wasn't surprised; they couldn't stay 10 forever. 

"Clara! Gott habe ich dich vermisst!" 

Claire didn't have much of a chance to react before she was already wrapped in a firm embrace by the blonde man. A chuckle escaped her throat as she wrapped her right arm around the man's back while keeping a strong grip on the suitcase that was still in her other hand. 

"Meine güte Hans." The blonde woman laughed and quickly pulled away from the embrace. She didn't want to let go of the safe feeling her old friend provided but the big reunion would have to wait. Hans just huffed and shook his head, pretending to be hurt by her action.

"Entschuldigung? Ich darf ja wohl meine beste Freundin umarmen nachdem ich sie seit fast 10 Jahre nicht mehr gesehen habe!"

"Ja ist ja gut ist ja gut. Tut mir leid. Jetzt bring mich aber bitte nach Hause. Ich würde mich nach der langen reise gerne ausruhen."

"Was auch immer die Dame verlangt." With a big smirk on his face, Hans quickly grabbed the suitcase out of her hand. In order to resist the urge to rip the suitcase out of his hands again, Claire gently inter hooked her arm with his and set a slightly quicker walking pace. 

As much as Claire loved to just stroll around the busy streets of Dresden, she knew that the longer the suitcase was out for everyone to see there was a bigger chance of someone growing suspicious.

While they walked in a comfortable silence towards the heart of the city Claire let her gaze wander. Maybe it was the interest in how the city changed since she left all those years ago but, maybe, it was just the fear of being caught; nevertheless she was happy to be back. 

Before Claire knew it, the pair were standing in front of a blue painted wooden door; the paint already started to chip off around the little window in the middle. 

While Hans was fiddling to get the keys into the lock the blonde woman turned around and looked high up into the sky. She raised a hand to block away the sun, hoping to get a better look at the church of our lady. 

When the door finally opened with a loud thud she turned around again and stepped into the doorway. Leaving the beauty of the city behind.


	3. TWO

CHAPTER TWO

maggie

After leaving the office of Colonel Sink and making their way outside of the building, Maggie let out a breath that she had been holding the entire time. Her nerves, whilst not gone completely, were lessened as Camilla threw a smile her way. “I’m proud of you, Maggie.” Maggie matched Camilla’s smile as she haphazardly threw her arms round the woman in a hug.

“I don’t think I could have done this without you Camilla.” The red headed woman grinned at Maggie, nodding as they began to walk in whatever direction Camilla pulled the brunette. As the two women walked deeper into the Toccoa camp, smiles on their faces, they began to   
get a little more attention than they were hoping for.

Whilst Camilla was able to ignore a lot of it, Maggie found that she was struggling. She had gotten used to the cat calls since joining the SOE and even from just being in America but a few of the comments did hurt Maggie. They’re here for husbands, I wonder who they slept with to get here and the original one why don’t we practice for the war in my bedroom.

“Ignore it.” Maggie was slightly startled by Camilla, hand on her upper arm as she continued to pull Maggie in a few different directions. “They’ll get bored eventually, I promise.” Maggie sent Camilla another smile as she finally let go of the brunette’s arm. It seemed that they had reached whatever destination Colonel Sink had given Camilla.

In front of the girls stood a small hut with a door, a set of steps and a few windows almost randomly added onto the side of the building. “Home sweet Home.” Camilla winked at Maggie as she jogged up the steps and opened up the wooden door. When the red head disappeared into the hut, Maggie quickly followed behind - managing to catch the door Camilla had swung open before it slammed shut once more.

With no curtains attached to the windows, light spilled into the small hut and illuminated each piece of wood that was sticking out, each crack in the wall, each spot of mould that had begun to grow. Maggie and Camilla exchanged a look, one that was easily identifiable as disgust yet there was nothing that they could do.

“Well,” Camilla clapped her hands together and turned to face a disgusted looking Maggie “Enjoy.” As Camilla moved to walk out, Maggie grabbed hold of her arm to stop her. Without even having to speak, the look on her face more than enough for Camilla, the red head sighed. “You don’t think i’m staying here, do you? I’m not enlisted, I get to sleep in the officer’s quarters - at least what would have been officers quarters. You, my dear, are enlisted and have to sleep separately.”

Camilla shot a grin at Maggie, who’s grip was nonexistent, and made her way out of the hut. Maggie fought the groan that escaped from her lips, rubbing her face once before glancing to the bed. It seemed that the bed was intact, sheets not dirty nor was the uniform folded on the bed. “Oh by the way,” Maggie let out a gentle yell as she jumped, placing a hand on her heart as she spun round to look at Camilla.

“At 1500 hours i’ll meet you here - you’re to meet the CO’s and the men you’ll be serving with.” Camilla left once again, Maggie waiting a moment to make sure that she was really gone before taking another look around the room. It was not paradise, not in the least, but Maggie knew it was better than staying with the men - until she got to know them well enough that was.

In her mind, Maggie believed she needed to bunk with the men when possible otherwise it would shock them too much in battle. Should she change in front of them or, god forbid, get injured and clothes stripped from her, Maggie needed the men to be used to such a sight. Unfortunately she had seen what happened when a man was not used to seeing a fellow soldier in a state of undress. Shock, which led to death. 

claire

With a good look down at the busy street, Claire took a sip out of the white mug she held in her hands. The coffee Hans made for her was tooth rotting sweet but she wasn’t going to complain. She would just have to make sure that she was the first at the coffee pot in the morning and everything would be fine.

Claire was about to take another sip when she stopped in her movements and reconsidered. Maybe the sink would be more happy to have this coffee. With quick steps she made her way into the kitchen and quickly poured the light brown liquid down the drain.

“I can’t believe that you are throwing away the coffee I made you!”

Claire almost dropped the mug when she heard Hans. With a sheepish smile she placed the mug down on the counter before turning to the man. He was leaning against the light door frame that seperated the kitchen from the living room, a few clothing articles in his hands.

“Well who on earth makes coffee so unbelievably sweet?”

“I thought you liked sweet coffee?”

“What makes you think that?”

With a deep breath Hans placed the clothes down on the little table that stood in the corner of the room and crossed his arms, a smirk on his lips.

“We thought it was funny to experiment with your parents coffee maker. You put so much sugar in your mug that your mother complained about her sudden shortage of sugar.”

Claire opened her mouth to respond but closed it again before a sound came out. Before she got the chance to even think of something to say, Hans spoke up again.

“You drank the coffee to the very last drop up and talked about how good sweet coffee tastes for the rest of the day.”

He picked the clothes up again and handed them to Claire. The clothes felt heavy in her arms. Her guess was that they were winter clothes, since the cold season slowly crept up so the people had to prepare themselves.

With a sceptical look down to the colorful fabric Claire decided to drop the topic. She was surprised that Hans still remembered something so unimportant from their childhood and, if she had to be honest, a burning desire to find out what else he remembered longed in her.

“I know you owed me money for a few bags of candy we bought after school but I think that this-“ Claire stopped and flipped through the clothes, taking a closer look at her new wardrobe. “-is a bit more than you owed me.”

“Don’t worry I haven’t spend one little penny on you”

“Ouch.”

Hans laughed heartily at her and gently patted the clothes Claire still held in her arms.

“Ilse had some clothes to spare and after I told her that my beloved childhood friend was about to move back home she didn’t hesitate.”

Claire thought for a moment. Despite her effort she couldn’t remember a woman named Ilse. The only woman that came to her mind with a similar name was the old grumpy lady which lived across the street. A shiver went down her spine just thinking about the old woman.

Hans apparently sensed the sudden discomfort the blonde woman felt and decided to swing his arm around her shoulders.

“Don’t worry Clara, they’ll like you!”

“They?”

Before Hans had the chance to give Claire an answer the doorbell rang. Sending Hans one last sceptical look she moved out of his arm and headed towards her assigned room to pack her new clothes away.

“I swear they will like you!” Hans yelled over his shoulder and turned towards the entrance door. With a sigh he turned the doorknob around.

“I just hope you’ll like them too.”


	4. THREE

CHAPTER THREE 

Maggie, USA 

After looking around her small room, Maggie let out another sigh and walked over to her bed. On top of the thin blanket sat her folded uniform, just by looking at it Maggie knew it wouldn't be the most comfortable.

Picking it up, Maggie looked through the uniform to discover she had been given a skirt. Rolling her eyes, Maggie put the uniform back down and began to strip.

Whilst she didn't mind wearing a skirt, she rather preferred it on a night at the pub, it was not practical for war.

She had started out in skirts for the SOE before wearing trousers. There had been near sanctions before she threatened to quit for good.

Maggie knew she was irreplaceable.

Putting the uniform on, sitting down on the bed to place her stockings on, Maggie realised the uniform was comfier than it looked.

Whilst not the most comfortable, it wasn't as scratchy or hot as Maggie had deemed. The skirt was a modest length, coming to her knees.

The only issue Maggie had was the shirt. Ill fitting and tight, Maggie knew it was a decision not a mistake. Why not highlight the only pair of beats the men would see on base. There wasn't anything she could do about it, to the US Army she was very replaceable and unwanted, even.

Letting out another sigh, Maggie stood from her bed and walked to the dirty mirror hanging above the dripping basin. Using the shirt she had been previously wearing to wipe the dirt away, Maggie used the mirror to put her hair up.

Though not the best hair she could have done, Maggie had thought to herself, it would have to do.

Glancing down at the watch she wore on her wrist, Maggie took a breath. It was nearly three, time to meet the men.

Folding up her clothes, Maggie placed them into the trunk that sat at the end of her bed and made her way out of the billet. Walking down the stairs, Maggie placed a hand on her forehead to keep the sun from her eyes.

As she did Camilla walked toward her with a small spring in her step.

A smile visible on her face, Maggie took a breath and forced a smile on her own face.

It was time to meet the men. 

Claire, September 1942, Dresden

A man and a woman. That’s all Claire could make out from her position behind the closed door of her room.

Letting out a deep breath, she straightened up and pulled her head away from the door. Claire could hear her mother's disapproving voice in her head, telling her to stop prying on other people but that’s exactly what she was here for.

To spy.

Making her way to her bedside table she shook her head; she had to forget what she was here for. She had to make sure that people trust her first, to make them believe that she was on their side.

Claire opened the drawer and reached far into the back. It took her a few seconds to find the object of desire but that was the point. She flipped the pen a few times between her fingers before she flicked the cap off, a sharp knife like object coming to view. After a few seconds of taking a closer look the cap was put on again, recreating the appearance of a normal pen.

Claire stuffed the pen hastily in the pocket of her skirt, right next to an actual pen. It would be tricky for her to find the difference between the objects in a stressful situation but as long as she kept her cool, no one would accidently have a knife placed in their hands when they only asked for something to write. 

“Just be yourself, Claire.” She muttered to herself, trying to calm her own nerves a little while making her way towards the door.

Just as she stepped out of the room the unfamiliar male voice stopped her in her movements.

“Wenn sie wirklich wegen dem Aufruf zurück gekommen ist, dann ist sie ein Nazi.” His voice immediately died down once she locked eyes with the man. While Claire flashed him a friendly smile, she received nothing but a shocked expression by him.

Got you.

“Not being a Nazi would get me into a little trouble here, wouldn’t it?” Claire kept the smile on her lips, no matter how much she wanted to cringe at identifying herself as a Nazi. The tension in the room rose at her statement which left an unsettling feeling in her. She expected a different reaction.

“Und das ist Clara!” Hans was the first one to speak up after a few seconds of silence, obviously trying to ease the tension. “Sie ist das Mädchen von dem ich gesprochen habe.”

So he was talking about her while she was gone.

“So you are the gal Hans has been talking about non stop?” The dark haired man leaned forward and observed Claire’s face. He got too close for her liking. Claire was about to tell him to back off when he leaned back already. He reached his hand out and shook hers with a strong grip.

“I’m Viktor and this,” He let go of her hand and pointed behind him towards a brunette woman. “Is Ilse.”

To the blonde's surprise, Ilse stepped forward with a genuine smile on her lips and took Claire’s hand in hers. Viktor carried around something dangerous with him while Ilse was the exact opposite. She seemed to be someone friendly, someone to rely on, someone to trust.  
Claire had to bite her tongue so she wouldn't ask how someone like Ilse was friends with someone like Viktor.

“It’s so nice to finally meet you, Clara! Hans spoke a lot about you.”

Now Claire had to look at her childhood friend. It was the second time someone blatantly told her that he was still talking about her, even after not seeing each other for nine years. She had to suppress a snicker when she saw how Hans’ cheeks slowly turned red.

Wanting to save him the embarrassment, Claire decided to not ask any further and to instead just smile at him.

“I hope he only talked about good things.”


	5. FOUR

chapter four

Maggie, Toccoa 

Maggie felt nervous as she followed behind Camilla, the woman walking confidently knowing that it didn't matter what the men thought of her. Whilst Maggie was there to train and eventually fight with the men, Camilla was basically Maggie's babysitter until they left America. Though no one knew what the plan was after training, many had the suspicion that the 101st would go to England before jumping from the planes into whichever continent they were told to. 

Whilst nervous, Maggie was rather good at hiding her true feelings. She had been trained in spotting body language and understanding it, meaning Maggie found it easy to replicate the gestures that showed confidence. She did not feel confident one bit, she never did when meeting a new group of people. Shaking all thoughts of nerves from her mind, Maggie followed Camilla round the corner.

Lined up were a group of soldiers, all wearing the same OD's that Maggie wore as they stood at attention. In front of them stood a small group of men that Maggie guessed were the officers and only one facing the men - the CO. Whilst Maggie had not met any of the officers, she had heard that Sobel was a mean son of a bitch. It seemed to be all anyone could talk about.

Approaching the man, Maggie could feel all eyes on her as she saluted the CO. Camilla did the same, yet she looked more uninterested than Maggie at the man. Camila didn't need to be there, hell she didn't want to be there and that showed. "Lieutenant Sobel?"

The man gave a short salute to the two women, allowing them to stand at attention rather than stood saluting the man. He wore a sneer as he looked at the women, his eyes quite openly looking them up and down, resting on the chests of both women. Maggie held in a sneer of her own, Camilla not doing the same.

"I suppose you've been given your orders from Colonel Sink, sir?" Maggie wished she could be as blatant as Camilla was being but she knew that she was expendable to both the US Airforce and the SOE. She couldn't get away with much if she wanted to stay in the airborne.

Instead of answering Camilla, Sobel stepped aside and outstretched his arm to signal that he was giving his permission for Maggie to stand in front of the men. Doing so, Maggie held her hands behind her back and stood up tall. Though she didn't feel it, Maggie oozed confidence as she let her eyes run over the men of Easy company.

"Good Afternoon, men. My name is Agent Maggie Walters. Whilst i'm sure you're all wondering what it is i'm doing here I cannot divulge all the information." Maggie took a pause, keeping her eyes trained on the expressions the men produced as she spoke.

Some had raised eyebrows and some remained stoic. "What I can tell you is that I am to be your Lieutenant, on loan from the SOE if you like. My mission is to train with and help train you to be Paratroopers. Whilst I am here you will treat me like you treat any other CO, is that understood?"

There was a pause before a chorus of 'yes Ma'am's' reached the ears of Maggie. Giving a nod, Maggie continued. "Whilst I am here I expect to be respected and in return I will give you the respect you want to be given. You may call me Walters when we're not training, and whilst we are I do not mind you using Sir rather than Ma'am as I do understand this may be challenging for some of you."

No one missed the way Maggie allowed her eyes to gravitate toward Sobel, snickers coming from some of the men. Unfortunately for them, Sobel had stepped forward and noticed the way Maggie's eyes went to him. "If you're quite finished, Agent, these men are to run Currahee."

Though everyone remained silent, Maggie could feel eyes still on her only this time she could see the anger and annoyance in some of them. "I expect that you will be joining us. Dismissed." With that, Sobel stalked off leaving Maggie standing with eyes still glaring at her as if they were attempting to punish her with their eyes.

"If looks could kill," Maggie turned her head to glare at Camilla, the woman wearing a smirk as one of the Lieutenants - Winter's - turned to face the men. Dismissing them, Maggie didn't miss the names mutter toward her under the men's breath, some brave enough to say them in a loud whisper. She couldn't help but let out a sigh - it would be a long and tough road to friendship with the men. 

Claire, Dresden 

A small smile graced her lips as Claire held the bottle of wine in her hands. Since she knew that alcohol was forbidden in Germany, the surprise was big when Hans told her that he 'borrowed' it from a police officer.

The label was almost completely scratched off and Claire had a hard time trying to find out where it came from, but she came to the conclusion that it must have been from Russia or one of its neighbouring countries because of the Cyrillic letters engraved at the bottom.

She tried to decipher it with her little knowledge but gave up after a few seconds already.

"One glass and I'm gone." Ilse held two, yet to be filled, wine glasses up and smiled at Claire.

"You don't have the good old German liver?" The blonde shook her head, a chuckle leaving her lips as she opened the bottle of wine. A few drops of the dark red liquid dripped into her hands. A small shiver went down Claire's spine as she had to admit that it looked awfully much like blood.

"I have a French liver, Clara. You have to stick with Hans and Vik to be able to really drink." Ilse smirked and had a tight grip on one of the glasses as it was filled with the crimson coloured wine.

"Français?" Claire asked with a certain curiosity and dragged the word out a bit. "Where exactly if I may ask? Paris?"

The brunette shook her head as she replaced the filled glass with the still empty one. "Lyon. It's south-west from the swiss border."

"That's quite far away." Claire noted and filled the second glass. "What brought you to Dresden?" 

Ilse let out a sigh. "My mother. She studied art here and always talked about how good it was and how much she would love to have me follow in her footsteps."

Claire just nodded and placed the bottle of wine back into its former place below the sink, hiding it below a few rags. It was by no mean a safe place to hide the forbidden good called alcohol but it was better than nothing.

"How about you?" Ilse asked as she leaned against the counter while handing Claire the fuller glass, obviously careful with her own boundaries considering her apparently not too well way of handling alcohol.

Claire took a few sips and let out an approving sigh. She had better but considering that she couldn't even find out what kind of wine it was exactly, she was happy nevertheless. "I wanted to come back home. Study art and come back home."

The brunette nodded and took a few careful sips on her own. "I guess we are study partners just like Vik and Hans." Ilse pointed behind herself to the door, separating the kitchen from the living room. Laughter could be heard from the other room.

Claire nodded and moved towards the door. "Come on my dear study partner. We shall not let the boys have too much fun without us."


	6. FIVE

chapter five

usa, 1942

After returning to her barracks and changing into the PT gear she had been given, Maggie realised that the army had done the same with her PT shirt as they had done her OD shirt. It was tight against her chest, almost highlighting the fact that she was a woman. Not letting it get to her, Maggie tied her shoes up and left the small building. Waiting outside for her, still in OD’s, was Camilla. 

Smug look on her face, Maggie rolled her eyes at her friends as she continued walking toward the base of the mountain. Already gathering at the base were Easy Company, a few of the men turning to look at her as she walked to an isolated spot.

No one spoke a word directly to her, some whispers could be heard from some men, but nothing was said to her. “Don’t worry about it.”

Finding somewhere to stand, Maggie crossed her arms over her chest and turned to Camilla with an eyebrow raised toward the woman. “Don’t worry?” She snorted quietly “Next time you have to run up a mountain with a group of men who potentially hate you, you can tell me not to worry about it.”

Camilla grinned at Maggie, spotting Sobel coming toward the group. Grabbing Maggie’s hand, she gave her a quick squeeze before slinking off the other way. Camilla was headed to put Maggie's Lieutenant bars onto her uniform before getting herself acquainted with the base.

Letting out a sigh, Maggie got ready to run up the mountain beside Easy. She was fit, someone who could run a fair bit before tiring, but she knew the men would be out to test her. They always would be until she proved she belonged amongst them.

After an hour long run up Currahee, Maggie ached. Her back hurt from falling into the mud, her shins hurt from being kicked ‘accidentally’ by the men and she was just exhausted.

Not only had the enlisted attempted to trip her multiple times, Lieutenant Sobel had been right in her ear with taunts. Her hands shook as she locked the door of her barracks, sliding down the back of the door as she held in the tears.

She didn’t care about aching, that would always be a part of exercising - especially with the army - but she cared about her treatment. She knew the men would have a hard time, why should they respect a British woman, but she hadn’t expected Lieutenant Sobel to be so vile.

Maggie was sure that even the men were shocked by the language he had been using toward her, the words he deemed acceptable to use directly at Maggie. However, she knew she couldn’t complain. She had to stay there, she had to jump into battle with Easy Company. Letting out a sigh, Maggie stood from where she had been leaning against the door and started to strip from the PT gear she was wearing.

Covered in mud and sweat, Maggie made the decision to place it on the shower floor beside her. Though not the best way for cleaning her clothes, she decided it was the quickest way.

In a few days, however, Maggie knew she would have to brave the laundry room and get her clothes properly cleaned. She had nothing against the women that cleaned the laundry, but she didn’t exactly want the men to have access to her clothes at any point. Especially not after the attitudes they had shown her during their Currahee run.

After her shower, clothes hanging on the windowsill inside her room, Maggie changed back into her OD’s, smiling as she realised Camilla had given her the Lieutenant bars, and made her way out of the barracks to find Vest. The man was in charge of all the mail that the men got, Camilla had told her anyway, Maggie expecting a letter from the SOE in the next few days. Camilla had already received hers, before the pair had even gotten to Toccoa.

Finding her way to the mailroom, Maggie noticed that there was one man already there. She vaguely recognised him, the man who had started the singing whilst the men were running Currahee. Taking a breath, Maggie walked in with her head held high and a smile on her face. 

Dresden, September 1942

Her eyes shot open and Claire looked up at the ceiling of her bedroom. Her first night back in Dresden and she just couldn’t fall asleep. Her head was pounding from all the alcohol she drank together with Viktor, Ilse and Hans. When she first heard that alcohol was forbidden in Germany she was confused on why someone would come to such a stupid idea but now she started to get behind it. She would have to remember to never touch Russian liquor ever again.

Letting out a groan she reached for her wristwatch which was placed on the bedside table. It took her a few tries but she was eventually able to grab it. The blonde woman had a hard time reading the numbers in the dim moonlight and she wasn’t sure if it was 2 or 3 am but what she knew was that it was way too early to be awake.

“Come one Claire. Just fall asleep like normal people do.” With a defeated sigh she placed the watch back down and covered her eyes with her arm. The pillow below her head was too soft. Usually Claire wouldn’t be complaining about the feeling of a soft feather filled pillow but being able to feel the hard metal edges of the welrod pistol beneath it offered, she wanted nothing more than to burn the soft pillow and throw the pistol out of the window.

Claire turned on her side again and placed her head next to her pillow and closed her eyes. She hates sleeping without a pillow but not as much as having metal edges disturbing her beloved sleep.

Claire was so close to finally getting rid of her pounding headache in the sweet state of sleeping but a knocking on her bedroom door pulled her back. A groan left her lips as she sat up.

“Yeah?” Her voice was groggy, filled with exhaustion as she tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes. 

The door creaked open and Hans looked inside, the dim light of the living room giving Hans a good look at Claire’s tired form. “Come out.”

The woman furrowed her eyebrows as Hans closed the door again, not giving her the chance to reply. She swung her legs over the bed and shuffled towards the door. In her mind she went over different scenarios as to why Hans needed her at such an ungodly hour and she would get back at him for disturbing her.

“I hope you have a good- Oh my god.” Claire stopped in the doorway, lips slightly parted. In front of her were five chairs, standing in the room with a blanket on the ground and on top of them. Her gaze turned to Hans. He held to glasses of water in his hands while smirking at the blonde woman.

“I heard you tossing and turning and well, thought about the old times.” After handing Claire one of the glasses he crawled into the, not so much with pillows, built pillowfort. “Come on, Clara.”

Claire hesitated shortly but eventually followed the man, careful not to spill any of the water inside of her glass.

It was cramped but Claire couldn’t help the smile forming on her lips, seeing her best friend snuggled up below the blanket already but still holding the side up for her to climb under. Claire didn’t need to be invited twice as she laid down beside him.

“What makes you think that this will help with my sleeping troubles?” Claire asked after properly nestling in. Her back was facing the man, his arm placed below her head.

“It always helped you.” He said while yawning.

Claire couldn’t deny it. Whenever she wasn’t feeling well, Hans and her brothers would build a pillowfort only to cheer her up and it worked every time. She missed those times.

“Thank you.” She mumbled and closed her eyes. The hard ground with only a blanket draped over it felt better than her bed. Her best guess was that it was because of the presence of her best friend by her side. Her brothers were still missing but she was happy.

“No problem.”

Claire fell asleep with a smile on her lips. The headache was long forgotten.


	7. SIX

chapter six

Georgia, Camp Toccoa, 1942

"Good afternoon, I was just wondering if I had any mail?" Maggie walked up to the counter, hands resting on it as she smiled at the man. Though an American post office on base, to Maggie it gave her the feeling of being back in Aldbourne. She would usually grab the mail for her family, enjoying the short walk and fresh air.

"Oh I believe you do, give me one moment Lieutenant." The man left, giving Maggie a moment to look around the mailroom as she felt the other man's eyes on her.

"Maggie right?"

Maggie turned to the man and gave a sharp smile. "Lieutenant, or Walters, Private." The man nodded, cigarette hanging from his lip. Maggie immediately regretted the way that she spoke to the man, she was supposed to be getting them to like her not for them to see her as even more of a bitch.

"Sorry, Lieutenant. George Luz." He held out his hand, Maggie hesitantly out stretching her own and shaking his hand. "Nice to meet you again." The man looked sheepish as he spoke, as if he realised what he had done was wrong. Though technically it was, Maggie didn’t want to be one to punish the men for the smallest things.

"Likewise, private."

There was another pause, Maggie feeling slightly awkward, before George spoke once more. "Where are you from Lieutenant?"

"England." George gave a small laugh, taking a drag from his cigarette, shaking his head. Maggie realised he meant where in England and gave a small chuckle.

"Sorry, of course you know I'm from England. Aldbourne, near the town of Swindon, before my father, myself and my brother moved to London."

George nodded, finishing his cigarette and stubbing it out before talking about his own family. Maggie learned that he came from a big family, surrounded by sisters - six of them with only three brothers, which made Maggie smile. She only had a sister and a brother, both of which she missed dearly.

Sophie had stayed in Aldbourne when herself and the rest of her family had moved away. Sophie was the eldest, a few years older than Maggie - she had been closest to their mother which made Maggie understand why she didn’t want to move away from the family home after her death.

Adam was the youngest, annoying to say the least but Maggie loved him. As far as Maggie knew he was still in the British Army, fighting the German’s already. Maggie was proud of him, always had been.

" Quite a big family then, Private." Maggie felt a lot more comfortable around George after they began chatting, smiles on both their faces. It was nice for Maggie, having someone other than Camilla to speak with. She adored Camilla but the woman became irritating rather quickly.

"Yeah, you get used to it really. What about you, Lieutenant, just your brother?"

Just as George spoke, Vest came back with a few letters for Maggie. "Here you go Lieutenant." Maggie smiled, accepting the letters from the man. "Sorry George," He turned to the man "No mail for you today."

George shrugged, opening the door for Maggie as the two left the small building together. Getting outside, Maggie pulled her pack of cigarettes out and offered one to George. She had a feeling the best way of making friends would be through her cigarettes.

"Thanks."

Maggie nodded, both lighting up their cigarettes before Maggie spoke. "I've got a sister as well actually, she still lives in Aldbourne. Didn't want to leave after our mother died."

George nodded, eyes on Maggie as the two began walking. He hadn’t lost anyone in his family, parents and multitude of siblings still living. He was silent for a moment, unsure of what to ask. Playing it safe, George skipped over the topic of Maggie’s mother. "Is your brother in the army?"

Maggie nodded once more "Yes, British Army since '39 when the war broke out." George nodded back, the two quiet for a moment. It wasn’t an awkward silence but a silence for the pair to think about what they had learned about the other. Whilst George was curious, Maggie was attempting to remember all the information.

If she could remember it, maybe she would have the chance to build a bond with the man. After a few moments, the two needing to go separate ways, George spoke once more.

"I'll see you for food later, Lieutenant. Save you a seat?"

Maggie smiled and nodded, though she knew he wouldn't say a word when surrounded by the other men. "Of course," Maggie thought for a moment, deciding against her wish to call the private ‘George’ as if he was her friend. “Private.”

"Call me George!" With that the man jogged off, leaving Maggie to ponder about what had actually just happened. Maybe she had made a friend. 

Dresden, September 1942

I lost my place when I left.

The thought hasn’t left her mind since stepping foot into the city again.The coffee Claire held in her hands was still hot, despite the chill temperature outside on the balcony. The city was still in a peaceful state in the early morning hours as the light of the rising sun painted the sky in a colourplay of orange and purple.

Claire wrapped the jacket tighter around her slightly shivering body while looking inside the living room through the glass window. The pillow fort hasn’t changed except for the ‘roof‘ hanging a bit lower than before. A smile formed on her lips. Just as in their childhood, Claire was the first one to wake up. She could still remember how she and her mother would prepare breakfast Sunday mornings while the boys were still asleep.

Letting out a deep breath, Claire placed the mug down on the small table next to her. When she stepped out of the trainstation not even 24 hours ago she felt so many emotions. She was excited and happy to be back home after all these years but on the other hand she was missing her family already. Claire wondered what her brothers were doing.

Samuel and Paul were most likely still in Africa, fighting so far away from their home. Allen was probably up in the air already, trying to protect London from as many enemy aircrafts as possible while Daniel was in training for his first mission.

Claire couldn’t even describe how much she missed her brothers at the moment. Whenever she was in danger at least one of them was by her side but now she was surrounded by the enemy, with no way of them reaching her in time of need.

Claire stopped being religious years ago but on a few occasions she caught herself asking god to bring her brothers home in one piece. To end this war and to bring her family back together.

The woman leaned over the railing of the balcony and looked down at the street, her blonde hair hanging down in loose strands. A few persons could be seen, hurrying down the cobblestone street into the direction of their workplace. Claire’s classes would start tomorrow and she would be one of the people down on the street. She would be nothing more than another person in the crowd. Out of the eyes of the enemy but yet right in the middle of them.  
Claire knew who she was or at least pretended to be. Clara Schneider, the well behaved young lady from across the hallway.

“Clara Schneider.” She said just above a whisper as she leaned back, her gaze now on the church in front of her.

Hearing herself say her mother's former last name felt off. She never called the strict woman anything else than Mama so hearing the name her mother only connected with bad memories brought up a strange feeling in her. Claire still remembered how her mother asked her to never say Schneider out loud. She never dared to ask why in fear of making her mother upset but the older she got, the more she wanted to push and find out why.

Pushing these thoughts aside Claire took the by now cold coffee back into her hands and turned her gaze back inside the living room. A sheepish smile greeted her from inside as she looked at Hans, who was sitting on the ground, obviously not having the motivation to stand up yet.

With a last glance at the sky, Claire smiled softly and went back inside the cozy flat.

Maybe I’ll find my place here again.


	8. SEVEN

chapter seven 

Georgia, Camp Toccoa, 1942

For Maggie, the next few weeks were a blur. Most of her activities were the same each day; training with the men, eating alone, meeting Camilla for a brief catch up, sending letters to the SOE and coming back to her barracks to find them askew.

At least once a week Maggie would go back after a day of lectures, when Sobel was not needed, to find all her possessions thrown about her barracks. The first time she had found personal items to be missing, such as underwear that wasn't army issued.

Though aggravating, Maggie knew she couldn't do anything. She was a Lieutenant out of courtesy, not through proving herself or climbing up the ranks. It wasn't a situation she could control and Maggie had to live with such a situation.

That morning Maggie stood beside Richard Winters, a man she hadn’t really spoken to much apart from when helping with training the men. The sun shone down on all of them, lined up and ready to listen to Sobel moaning about whatever he fancied that morning. As usual, the man was late.

As Maggie stood beside the Lieutenant, she caught Camilla making her way toward the group with another soldier by her side. Though she had to strain, Maggie noticed that the man was in fact Lieutenant Speirs, the CO of Dog Company. Again, Maggie had never spoken to the man but had seen him in passing.

She didn’t get a chance to ponder the reasoning for Camilla walking beside him as Sobel sped round the corner, spit flying as he yelled. “You people are at the position of attention!” No matter how straight anyone was standing, Maggie knew each man would have straightened themselves up as Sobel came round the corner.

Maggie wanted to roll her eyes when the man came into view, his torso covered with a leather jacket even though Maggie was sure the weather could have killed her in a bathing suit. She was still getting used to the warmer weather of America, England being a rather dreary country with only one or two days that could be classed as summer each year.

Maggie’s eyes followed the man as he stalked up and down the lines of men, as if he was an animal ready to pounce on his prey. Maggie knew she would be subject to the man’s anger at any point, readying herself mentally for the berating. Maggie never had anything out of place yet he always found something.

Maggie was sure she could smell his foul breath as he stopped in front of her, beady eyes measuring her up before he took another step closer. “Name.”

Maggie readied her M1, holding it out to him as was the procedure. He took no interest as his eyes stayed on Maggie’s face, watching as she rattled her name off. “Walter, Maggie, sir.”

The man took a pause, eyes travelling down Maggie’s torso and stopping for a moment before he looked back up at her. He made all the men nervous, but Maggie more so. It seemed that his eyes could never find her face when he was made to speak with her, only ever her chest.

“Your skirt is too short. Below the knee is the appropriate length. Do not think just because you’re a woman I will let this pass. Your pass is revoked.”

Maggie took a deep breath as Sobel left her personal bubble, making his way over to one of the men. Maggie thought a prayer in her head for whichever man Sobel decided to pick on.

“Private Perconte, did you blouse your trousers like a paratrooper?”

“No, Sir.” Maggie didn’t bother listening to the rest of Sobel’s nitpicking, she knew none of the men would stand a chance of keeping their passes. Maggie cursed Sobel in her mind, they were supposed to be headed to the pub for a few drinks and Maggie thought it would be the perfect moment to get involved.

A few drinks with the men might have allowed her a way into their now tight knit group. She needed them to trust her, needed them to know her as more than just their Lieutenant or than just a woman in the army. She needed them to know her as Maggie Walters, British woman fighting for the same cause as them - to protect their country and their families. 

Dresden, November 1942

A harsh wind greeted Claire as she stepped out of the university building into the already dark evening. With a direct look down at the Elbe river, the blonde woman pulled the blue scarf she wore further into her face, trying to shield her chapped lips from the cold. Since her arrival in Dresden roughly a month ago, the winter crept closer and closer up their backs. With a tight grip on her messenger bag, Claire walked down the stairs, careful not to slip.

“Clara!” She was almost at the bottom when she heard a familiar voice call out her name from the top of the stairs. With a smile on her lip she turned around and looked up at Ilse.

The brunette hurried down the stairs, almost losing her brown barrette. Coming to a halt next to Claire, Ilse interlocked their arms. Together the two of them walked along the Brühl's terrace.

Ilse started to talk at some point but Claire’s attention was focused on the reflection the shop windows next to them offered. She couldn’t shake off the feeling that she was being watched. Claire had to be careful. The Gestapo was more active than ever and she wasn’t too keen on being interrogated by them. The stories she had heard are enough to send shivers down her spine.

Craning her neck to look behind herself she saw a man, leaning against a wall. She could feel his eyes on her, looking at her as if he was a predator while she was his prey.

Ilse must have sensed Claire’s discomfort so she turned her head just as well. The color drained from the brunette's face and she tightened her grip on her friend.

Claire reached inside her jacket and flicked the cap of her hidden knife open. She had a deja vú as she thought of a similar situation only a few days ago. Just as now, she had the feeling of being watched from the darkness the night offered but she had Hans and Viktor by her side. Now she was alone with Ilse and Claire highly doubted that her friend was a skilled fighter.

Turning back to Ilse she quickened her pace.

“Are you alright?” Claire asked quietly. She already knew the answer but deep down Claire hoped that she was just being paranoid.

The woman in question nodded almost too eagerly, obviously trying to hide whatever she felt at the moment.

The rest of the walk continued in silence as both women were too busy taking in their surroundings. It was only a few minutes of them walking but it felt like ages to both of them and a look of relief made its way into Ilse’s face as they reached her home.

After a quick goodbye Claire was alone again. With one hand in her pocket, ready to draw the knife she was basically jogging to the apartment Hans and her shared. When she was younger she loved strolling down the dark streets with her brothers after being out for the night but here in Germany and with the darkening she felt cornered.

She could have gone back to the university and wait for Hans’ class to be over but that would have meant more waiting in the dark and that’s the least she wanted at the moment. After coming to a halt right at the blue door, Claire could feel a wave of relief wash over her. She felt so close to the safeness the shared home provided and with quick steps she made her way up the stairs to the apartment. Claire never heard the heavy door fall into its lock but she didn’t care as she unlocked the apartment door.

In a matter of seconds she was inside and closed the door. Leaning against it, she let out a shaky breath as her bag dropped to the floor.

“Endlich.” She mumbled and pushed herself up to a straight position. The feeling of being followed finally started to fade away and Claire decided to go to her room. She barely had the chance to open her jacket as someone knocked at the apartment door.

Claire waited and when the knocking continued she grabbed every weapon her room offered and hid them somewhere on her body. Tiptoeing to the entrance, she questioned who it could be. Ilse was home and surely wouldn’t go through the darkness on her own. Hans and Viktor still had their class for at least half an hour. No one else would be so persistent trying to get in.

Claire took a deep breath and clutched the hidden knife with a strong grip as she opened the door.   
Four men stood in front of her, one of them was the man from earlier.

“Wer sind sie?“ Claire questioned with a voice, way higher and sweeter than usual as she blocked the entrance.

“Die Gestapo.“


	9. EIGHT

chapter eight 

Toccoa, 1942.

After being dismissed by Sobel, then Lieutenant Winters, Maggie quickly made her way back before stripping from her Olive Drabs into her PT gear. She often wore it beneath her uniform, making it a lot harder for her to be late. Sobel would punish her for the slightest things, Maggie never wanted to give the man a real reason to punish her.

Making her way toward Currahee, Maggie noticed Sergeant Lipton coming out of the barracks with annoyance written on his face. Slowing down, Maggie gave the man a smile. "Everything alright, Sergeant?"

The man looked up, quickly saluting the Lieutenant before standing at attention before her. Even though she was a woman, the men in the company seemed to recognise that she ranked above her and did treat her as such. It was a relief some days, others she wished they would treat her as a friend.

"Yes Ma'am, just making sure all the men are on time as normal." Maggie gave a nod at the man, allowing him to run toward Currahee with Maggie trailing behind him. On the way toward the mountain, the company seemed to meet with a second company. Though Maggie hadn't had much interaction with the other companies, she always dreaded coming upon them.

"They need some female company!" Maggie let out a small chuckle, the voice of the man she recognised as Liebgott ringing through the base. She had no clue what had been said but sure enough the man had a retort. The smile was soon wiped from Maggie's face as she met eyes with another company man. Whilst his friends stopped and watched, the man came toward Maggie.

"Well, who knew Easy really did have a dame in their company. Fuck running Currahee, come to dinner with me." It was clear as day that the man was looking Maggie up and down, her PT gear not leaving too much to the imagination.

With a small smile, Maggie took a step forward "Not a dame, private. A spy and a Lieutenant. If I catch you speaking to any woman that way again, you will be dealing with a lot more than Easy Company's marvellous insults."

With that, Maggie walked away from the man and in front of Easy company who stood with grins on their faces. None of the company had been thrilled that a woman would be serving with them, all believing they would have to babysit her, yet Maggie had proved she could look after herself.

Turning round as she walked, Maggie noticed Easy not walking anymore. Yelling, Maggie got the men moving once more. "Really, boys? Are you going to let a dame beat you to Currahee?"

Though she sounded confident, Maggie's heart was beating rapidly as she attempted to joke around with the men. There was always a high chance that a joke could backfire and leave her feeling even more embarrassed. The brunette was rather joyful when the men started to sprint toward Currahee, Maggie's words spurring them on so that she would not be the first to Currahee.

Dresden, November 1942.

Claire swallowed hard as she looked at the men in front of her. She felt so incredibly small and powerless as the group pushed past her on their way inside. They didn't waste any time as they started to search through the bookshelves and cupboards. Claire closed the door and swiped the beads of sweat off of her forehead. She felt like the temperature in the apartment dropped by at least five degrees as she watched the men with a careful eye. Not even once since her arrival in Dresden she felt so unsafe. She feared that the skirt she wore would give away the gun that was strapped to her thigh or that the suitcase radio stacked between boxes would catch their attention.

Was she really that uncareful? Was she really stupid enough to leave a trail for them to follow?

Claire really felt like crying from pure fear. She felt like a child, knowing that their mother will find out about the trouble they got into.

Her palm turned sweaty and she let go of the knife in her pocket. She had to make sure to look innocent. Like a simple woman with nothing to hide.

With careful steps she made her way over to a window but not without noting the mess the scattered books on the carpet created. Her own reflexion looked back at her as her gaze was fixated in the dark street, hoping to see the blonde hair of Hans hurrying home.

Claire's shoulder slumped down at the realisation of her being completely on her own against the Gestapo.

She turned back to the unwanted commotion as one of the men approached her. He had dark black hair and prominent features. He looked fairly young. Older than Claire but younger than the rest of the group.

"Miss Schneider, wo befindet sich ihr mitbewohner?" The man came to a halt and looked down at her. Claire had to admit that he already looked tall but now so close to her, she felt even smaller.

"Er hat noch Unterricht." Claire crossed her arms. She was by no means happy about her telling him where Hans was but she couldn't make them suspicious. If she really was a subject of interest, Claire had to make sure that Hans wouldn't be dragged into this just because she thought it would be better.

The man nodded at her response. It was at that moment Claire's attention was pulled back to the group as they made their way back to the entrance. In a matter of seconds they said their goodbye and have left. A sudden wave of relief washed over Claire as she closed the door. The apartment was a mess and the relieved feeling quickly turned into anger. She was mad at herself for letting them cause the mess, mad at Hans for not being by her side when she needed him but most of all mad at herself for letting this happen.

How was she going to explain to Hans that the Gestapo has their eyes on her? How was she going to explain that he was most likely watched too?

Pushing those thoughts aside she started to pick up the books and to place them back into their former place. She had to stay calm. The more nervous she got the more likely someone would suspect something and she just couldn't let that happen. Too much was at her risk.

Letting out a heavy sigh Claire stepped into her room. She thought that the living room looked bad but her bedroom shocked her. Even her messy teenager self would cringe at the unmade bed and the clothes strewn across the floor. The first thing she did was to make the bed again, mainly to have a close hiding space for her pistol and other weapons. Claire was glad that she decided to take them all on her body. The next thing she did was to move across the room to pick up her clothing again.

"You could have at least fucking hung it all back inside, dickhead." Claire had a frown on her face as she continued to mutter obscene insults directed at the Gestapo as she filled her closet again. Just as she hung the last skirt back inside her bedroom door flung open. Out of reflex she reached for her knife hidden in her skirt as she looked at Hans. The man looked confused and Claire swore that she could see a glint of anger in her eyes. Something she wasn't used to by the usually calm man.

Crossing his arms Hans looked at her, head tilted to the side.

"Was in Gottes Namen ist hier passiert?"


	10. NINE

chapter nine

A week prior

Camilla let out a yawn, looking down at the watch that sat upon the wrist on the man beside her. The covers were pulled up, even though the weather outside was rather warm. Reaching up, Camilla tucked a strand of her red hair behind her ear and turned round to face the man beside her.

“I’ve got to go soon, Maggie will be waiting for me.” Camilla frowned at the face made by the man who was now looking at her. She let out a small chuckle before speaking. “What? I don’t get why none of you like Maggie.”

Camilla rolled her eyes at him, placing her hand so it was resting on the man’s hip over the covers. He shook his head and let out a sigh. “We don’t need a girl to babysit, doll. We’re training for a fucking war, not some padgent.”

Camilla couldn’t help herself as she let out a snort, shaking her head once again. “Maggie’s the one here to babysit all of you. I guess no one’s told you why Maggie is really here?” When he shook his head, Camilla grabbed the robe beside the bed, slipped it on and stood up. The brown haired man sat up in the bed with the cover pooling around his hips, hands positioned behind him to hold his weight; he was sitting waiting for an answer.

Camilla took a seat in the desk chair and turned to face him, folder now in her hands. She held the folder out to him, the man taking it and reading through it. There were a few moments of silence before Camilla spoke. “Is that better, Bill?”

He looked up, blinking a few times before speaking. “She really did all this?” Camilla crossed her arms over her chest, nodding, as she awaited the information she would have to share.

“I was there. I lost my fiance during the mission that got Maggie assigned here. She wouldn’t leave the one man behind that was still alive, even though no one could be sure that he still was alive but Maggie wouldn’t take that chance. She was injured, saved Agent Flemming’s life, but the SOE didn’t give a crap.”

Camilla took the file from Bill’s hands, a photo of Maggie in SOE gear attached to the file that made Camilla smile. She might have been sleeping with a private, but Camilla’s heart had a special spot just for Maggie - it always had.

“Either she was to come here or leave the SOE completely. Of course, I offered to come here as her SOE contact but she doesn’t know that. Maggie just thinks I was assigned like her.”

Bill reached out, pulling Camilla into his lap. The file was placed on the floor next to the bed as Bill placed a hand on Camilla’s cheek and pulled her in for a kiss. Breaking the kiss, Camilla placed her own hands on Bill’s shoulders and smiled at the man. “Can I ask you a favour Bill?” The man nodded, slowly undoing the robe that Camilla wore.

“Can you just give Maggie a chance? She deserves it - she risked her life for men that treated her the same as you lot do and, trust me, she would happily risk her life for all of you.” Bill nodded, Camilla happy as she allowed Bill to lay her back down on the bed.

Camilla hoped that now Maggie wouldn’t be so upset by the way that Easy company treated her - plus, Camilla couldn’t say sleeping with Bill to get her way wasn’t fun. 

Dresden, November 1942

“Was in Gottes Namen ist hier passiert?” Hans’ voice was firm as he asked for a second time after he didn’t receive an answer.

Still holding the knob of her closet in one hand, Claire let the question sink in. The answer was so simple but yet so hard to say out loud. The Gestapo had a reason to search through their place and Hans most likely knew that.   
Claire saw her work as a spy and her friendship with Hans at risk. She couldn’t even blame Hans if he would decide to kick her out because of the danger she puts him into. Claire wanted to lie so badly but there was no plausible excuse as to why both of their rooms were a mess completely out of the blue. She would have to tell him the truth even if it meant to possibly lose him.

“So, uhm,” Claire bit down on the inside of her bottom lip as she searched for the right, and least shocking, words. Letting out a deep breath she turned her full attention to Hans again. She would have to go with ripping off the band aid in one piece.

“The Gestapo was here.” Claire continued as she studied her friend's face. To her surprise, he didn’t get mad; she had anticipated everything but the pure look of horror on his face.

“Are you sure that it was the Gestapo?” Hans asked carefully as he ran his hand through his hair a few times, apparently trying to gain a grip on reality.   
Claire furrowed her eyebrows at that question and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Who else were they supposed to be? Third graders?”

She expected a witty comeback or at least a glare towards her direction, but all Hans did was mutter curses over and over under his breath as he paced around the room.

“Hans, look-“

“What did they say? Did they ask for me?”

“They asked where you were and I said you were at university. Now, would you please be kind enough to tell me what your problem is right now?”

Hans started to stammer incomprehensible words as he made his way towards his room, Claire followed suit behind him. Nothing made sense to her at the moment and she just had to find out what was really happening. She stopped in the doorway to his room as Hans started to rip through his desks drawers - papers seemed to be getting scattered around the room and, while trying to be at least a little bit helpful, Claire started to pick them up. She looked them up and down in hope to find something but the only thing she learned was that she had no idea of what Hans wrote down in his engineering classes.

Letting out a huff she made her way over to Hans as he had apparently calmed down.

“Here, I-“

Hans jumped up from his sitting position as he ripped the papers out of her hands, careful to still cover the inside of the drawer, making Claire suspicious. She tried to carefully maneuver past him but as he grabbed her upper arm she backed off.  
“Thanks angel but I need some time on my own.”

Claire opened her mouth a few times, trying to get a word out as she was gently pushed out of the room. As the door closed behind her, she furrowed her eyebrows. Absolutely nothing made sense to her anymore. She expected the Gestapo to have been here for her but Hans’ behavior made her question this. What was he keeping from her?

The only thing she could muster out was a ‘what the fuck’ under her breath as she made her way back to her room. Something was terribly wrong and Claire was sure that even a blind man could see it.


	11. TEN

chapter ten

Maggie, Toccoa. 

As it had been for the past few weeks, the beginning of the run up Currahee was full of men attempting to sprint as far as they could. Every time, they wanted to show Sobel that they could do exactly what he wanted. Maggie thought that maybe they were trying to make sure they got their weekend passes, not that she blamed them in the slightest.

After around ten minutes of everyone sprinting, Maggie included, Easy company visibly slowed down. It was natural that they would, tired already from lack of sleep and using all their energy trying to outrun one another. Maggie could feel herself slowing down, yet she pushed as the eyes of Sobel seemed to be burning a hole in her back.

Maggie never wanted to seem weak in front of the men, but she was constantly out of energy from trying to prove herself. She wasn't the slowest, not by far due to her SOE training, but there were men faster than her. Some of them even smirked at her when they overtook her on the run. 

As Maggie ran, she could hear Sobel berating men behind her. "Do not help that man!" Though she wanted to make sure whoever was behind her was okay, she knew that turning round would cause her to be berated once more. Instead, Maggie kept running and focussed on keeping her breathing steady as she neared the top of Currahee.

Maggie could feel her patience for Sobel wearing away, the sound of the man's voice constantly in her ear as he yelled at the men. She didn't know why but he seemed to be in an even worse mood than usual. Maggie knew getting on his bad side would be worse for

her, yet whatever she did it would be bad in his eyes.

As Maggie focussed on working out a way to stay in the man's relatively good books, she didn't notice the rather large stone in front of her. It wasn't until two sets of hands grabbed Maggie's arms to stop her from falling face first that she realised she had tripped. Her heart beat in her chest, glancing to her right to see George Luz grinning at her.; even though he looked as exhausted as the rest of the men, he wore a smile.

Looking to her left, Maggie was rather shocked to see Bill Guarnere holding her up. The man had hardly spoken to her, only talking to her in a training capacity. It was rather confusing but Maggie was thankful. When the voice of Sobel broke through, Maggie knew she was in trouble.

"Lieutenant Walters! Stop fraternizing - I should have known you joined to find a husband!" Maggie could feel the inside of her cheek bleeding, biting down to stop herself from retaliating. She knew she would be in trouble, her foul mouth would only make it worse for her. Without answering Sobel, she gave a nod to Bill then to George before running at a quicker pace.

Her thinking was that the quicker she ran Currahee, the quicker she would get her punishment and the quicker she could complete. Maggie was almost completely sure that she would be given latrine duty, none of the men had been punished with it recently so she was sure it was disgusting.

Maggie had lived with men, she knew how disgusting they could be - especially in a bathroom - but a group of soldiers? Maggie knew she was in trouble. Instead of thinking about what lay ahead, Maggie focussed on running up the rest of Currahee and making her trip back down without tripping again.

Dresden, November 1942

"I swear to fucking god if we get caught I'll say it was your goddamn idea." Viktor let out a huff which instantly turned into a cloud in front of him. His gaze followed the dark green tarpaulin of the truck as Hans rolled it up. "And I want to get fucking paid for this."

"Yeah no way in hell. You have enough money already." Pulling himself up into the dark of the truck, Hans turned on a flashlight. After a quick look around the boxes he turned back to Viktor while pointing to various wooden boxes. "We're taking this one, this one, and this one."

Viktor reached into the pocket of his black jacket. He pulled a cigarette out and held it out for Hans to take but the blonde man just shook his head. With a shrug he lit the cigarette tor himself and took a long drag while looking around the dark forest. "Why only three boxes tonight?" The cigarette was dangling between his lips as he reached out his arms to take one of the boxes from Hans. He heard clinging sounds with every move. Viktor guessed that it was ammunition.

"Because the Gestapo was at my place." The cigarette fell out of his mouth as he looked at Hans in disbelief. Viktor was sure that he just misheard his friend. He hoped that he misheard his friend but something inside him knew that he heard Hans just fine.

"I said," Hans reached for another box, not even sparing a glance towards Viktor. "The Gestapo was at my place. Just a few hours ago."

"Just a few- Hans what the hell?" With a scoff Viktor took a few steps back as he took a closer look at his surroundings. He felt watched from the darkness of the surrounding forest. As if someone was hiding between the trees just waiting to jump at him. With a scoff he walked back to the truck and climbed in. The quicker they reloaded the goddamn boxes the quicker they were gone again. "I told you we couldn't trust Clara."

"What so now you're gonna blame it on Clara? You know damn well that she has nothing to do with this." Hans crossed his arms in a defensive manner as he turned his full attention to Viktor. He raised his voice as felt attacked by his friend trying to put something on Clara. He couldn't possibly imagine why Viktor would bring this up now.

"If it's not this then it's something else for Christ's sake. Why should the Gestapo search your place otherwise?"

"Well maybe but just maybe because of this." Hans pointed at the boxes surrounding them. "Maybe the Gestapo is just catching up with us for stealing SS materials."

Viktor scoffed and maneuvered his way past the boxes and towards the exit of the truck again. "Fuck it, I'm not going to argue now. Have fun carrying those goddamn boxes while I have a look outside. Not that someone actually followed- Oh for Christ's sake."

"What is it?" Hans turned his head to Viktor wanting to see what the problem was. As he saw his friend's hands high up in the air and the barrel of a gun pointed at his face, Hans moved forward trying to keep Viktor out of the line but, once he laid eyes on the shooter, he stopped dead in his tracks.

With his eyes locked on the incredible familiar features Hans let out a shaky breath not quite believing who stood in front of him.

"Fucking hell I knew something was up." Claire's voice showed that she was shocked but at the same time it carried a certain amount of confidence in it. She lowered the gun in her hands as she kept her eyes trained on Hans, careful to watch every move. "I want the truth."

Once the immediate danger was away from him, Viktor turned to Hans as he shook his head in defeat. "Just so you know. This is your fault."


	12. Eleven

chapter eleven

Maggie, USA. 

After the whole of Easy company finished their run up Currahee, they all lined up as they did every single day, It was routine for the company at that moment in time - run, line up, get berated and shower. Maggie, amongst probably all of the men, hated being lined up after running. They were tired, they were dirty and they were frustrated by their CO. As they stood at attention in front of Sobel, Maggie stood beside Lieutenant Winters, only Easy companies breathing could be heard. 

Sobel was quiet, walking up and down as if he was a cat stalking a mouse. It wasn't long before he stopped and turned to face Easy company, eyes narrowing as they settled on Maggie. "Lieutenant Wlaters."

"Yes, sir?" Maggie knew what was coming, the whole company did. They weren't stupid, they had all seen Sobel picking on Maggie since the moment she arrived. Whilst many found it funny to begin with, the realisation that they could head to war at any moment had hit a lot of the men. It wasn't as funny anymore, they needed someone that was competent and knew what they were doing - many of the men realised that Maggie was that person. 

"You have constantly disobeyed orders, making a mockery out of my company. You are to be on latrine duty and until I am satisfied you are not to return to your lodgings." Maggie wasn't even mad, she was tired and upset. She had been sweating all day, her body ached and she needed a shower more than anything. It took everything within Maggie not to cry, to not break down and quit right there. 

It wasn't as if she had anyone to talk to about it either, Camilla off base on another assignment for a few weeks - Maggie didn't blame her for wanting to go but she did resent the red haired woman slightly for leaving her. "Yes, Sir." 

Once dismissed, Maggie obediently trudged to the supply cupboard with all the supplies in for the latrines. She knew that she just had to get it over with, knowing that Sobel would be around soon enough to make sure that it was done. After collecting the things she needed, Maggie was startled by the presence of another soldier behind her. He smiled gently, guilt hidden in his eyes as he saluted Maggie. 

Smile on her face, Maggie saluted and allowed the private to relax. "Sorry Lieutenant, I didn't mean to startle you. I was just wondering if you wanted a hand with the latrines." He paused for a moment, quickly backpedaling. "Not that you're not capable, uh, I mean I just-"

Maggie let out a small laugh. "Private," She paused, trying to recall his name. "Grant, it's okay." When the man didn't correct her, she let out a small sigh of relief subtly. "Thank you for the offer but, go get a shower and get some food. We both know that Sobel would have your head if he caught you."

Both laughing gently, Grant bid the Lieutenant goodbye and made his way to his own barracks. Maggie was too tired to realise that it was strange - first Luz and Guarnere, now Grant. Letting out a small yawn, Maggie took a breath and entered the latrines. 

Claire, Dresden, November 1942

The tension in the room was unbearable as Claire sat at the kitchen table. The dim light the lamp above her head provided, was barely bright enough to light up the small kitchen. The walls of the room felt so close to her almost suffocating.

Tapping her fingers down at the sturdy wood did only little to calm her nerves as she tried to find the right words. Claire got what she wanted. She found out what had made Hans so nervous but now that she had to confront him about what happened a little over an hour ago on the dark road, right next to a Wehrmacht truck, she regretted following him. But maybe that's what she deserves for using him like this. For using him to have a good stay in Germany.

"We both have secrets."

She wouldn't be having this conversation if she stayed in France together with Andreé and Lise. 

Crossing her arms in front of her chest, Claire turned her full attention to the man sitting across from her. Her plan was to not show weakness during this conversation but as soon as her eyes met with the regret filled eyes of Hans, her facade crumbled. She wanted to reach out and take his hand in hers to calm him the same way she did in their childhood. She wanted to tell him that everything was going to be fine but deep down Claire knew that it wasn't that easy.

"Hans, I want to trust you, I really do but I need to know what you are doing."

She felt like a hypocrite asking him like this as if she was innocent. Seeing him and Viktor stealing Wehrmacht gear in the middle of the night while the driver was probably taking a break was enough for her to figure it out but she had to hear it from him.

The man in front of her swallowed hard and leaned forward. "I'll tell you what we are doing under the circumstances that you explain this." Hans reached over to Claire's side of the table and tapped his finger a few times on the welrod pistol which laid in front of the woman.

With a simple nod Claire accepted his condition. It wasn't what she wanted but he deserves to know the truth about her. She just hoped that there won't be any big consequences.

"Alright, so, uhm," Hans started, obviously unsure of what to say. "Viktor and I are stealing Wehrmacht, SS and SA equipment on a regular basis. Just enough to have them not realize it and we overpaint swastikas as much as often as we can. Ilse gives us an alibi if anyone asks."

"You three are risking your life for this, you know?" 

"We know the risk but something has to be done, Clara. We can't stand by while innocent lives are lost in this useless war." Hans reached out and laid his hand on top of Claire's. He wasn't sure if it's because he wanted to keep her at the table, out of fear of her walking away or simply to give her a feeling of trust. That she can be honest with him and that he trusts her enough to reveal something like this.

Taking the following silence from Hans' side as a clue, Claire straightened her back a bit and wiped with her thumb over her friend's knuckles, a soft smile on her lips. "You have to promise me not to talk with anyone about what I'm about to tell you."

Hans nodded, encouraging her to continue.

"I'm working for the special operations executive, or SOE for short, as a spy. My job is to keep an eye on the people, to cause a bit of trouble for the Nazis and of course to steal information." Claire swallowed hard as she averted Hans' eyes. From the promise she made herself about staying strong was no sign anymore. She could practically feel her best friend staring at her in disbelief but the almost childlike smile that was on his lips was still unbeknown to her.

"You are a spy? As in a spy, spy?" Hans asked with excitement in his voice Claire still recognized from their childhood. In confusion she raised her head only to be met by pure and utter excitement. Before she had the chance to answer him, Hans started again. "So you had real training? Do you have any secret weapons? You actually know what you are doing? Holy shit I can't believe it."

Claire couldn't help herself but let out a soft laugh. She expected him to be mad, to kick her out for bringing his life into danger along with hers but instead she was met with nothing but excitement. "Aren't you mad?"

"Mad? Clara, are you serious? I was just told that my best friend is a spy. There is nothing cooler than that! Do you have a codename or something? Sorry I'm talking too much aren't I?"

Claire nodded as a response. "To all of your questions: Yes. My codename is Veritas. It is latin for truth. Since you know, I'm here to find out the truth behind the Nazis and all."

"Alright so uhm, I have one last question." Hans reached out and took Claire's other hand into his just as well.

"Shoot."

"I still have to talk with Ilse and Vik about this but would you join us?"

Claire swallowed hard. It would be good to have people she could rely on and now that Hans knew the truth there wasn't much more to lose. "Under the condition that when I help you guys, I want to be able to trust you with helping me doing my job."

"That shouldn't be a problem."


End file.
